US commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose 2.0 million barrels to 411.7 million barrels for the week ended July 17, the EIA reported. That level sits 6% below the five-year (2021-2025) average for the same week. Total commercial petroleum inventories, which include crude and refined products, climbed 11.6 million barrels for the week.
Gasoline stocks increased 0.8 million barrels and remain 7% below the five-year average. Distillate inventories rose 1.4 million barrels, 10% below the five-year average. Propane and propylene stocks jumped 6.3 million barrels and now sit 34% above their five-year average, the widest gap of any product category in the report.
Refiners keep running hard
US refiners kept the downstream segment running hard, processing 17.1 million barrels a day at 96.1% of capacity, down 58,000 b/d from the prior week. Gasoline output averaged 9.7 million b/d. Distillate production rose to 5.3 million b/d.
Imports and demand
Crude oil imports increased 117,000 b/d to 5.8 million b/d, though the four-week average of 5.6 million b/d runs 11% below year-ago levels. Gasoline imports averaged 494,000 b/d and distillate imports averaged 173,000 b/d.
Over the last four weeks, total product demand averaged 20.4 million b/d, down 1% from a year earlier. Gasoline demand rose 1% to 8.9 million b/d and distillate demand rose 2% to 3.7 million b/d. Jet fuel demand climbed 9% year over year. The EIA said the gain in transportation fuel demand was offset by falling demand for residual fuel oil, propane, and other oils.
